Didn't make it to LEGO World? Neither did I, but I wish I was there to drink in this incredible Hoth display by supersteendk. Featuring moving speederbikes, snowspeeders, and walking AT-AT Walkers, it definitely rivals the efforts of Brickplumber and his Echo Base display.
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Permalink: http://www.fbtb.net/2011/02/26/epic-hoth-battle-scene/

It's certainly neat, but this is no comparison to Brickplumber's model. This one has a nicer snowfield, but the inside of the hanger is bland and the use of official models rather than customs for the AT-ATs is a major detriment. Look at the way those machines tower over everything in Brickplumber's!

Anyone know how they came up with the 1,500,000 brick estimate? I'm guessing it's about 6-8 baseplates wide, and 12-16 baseplates long. Even at 8x16 (128 baseplates), that 1.5 million bricks winds up being an average of over 11,000 pieces per baseplate of area. That would be like cramming more than 2 UCS Millennium Falcons onto every basplate! My guess for this model was more like in the 200,000 piece ballpark.

The part count is an estimate by the builder himself.The whole diorama weighs about 750 kilograms - Not sure how much a regular 2x4 brick weighs, but that could be what he used to estimate the amount of bricks.

Plus do consider that this thing has a train track build in - it's not just built on a baseplate, there's a skeleton build that holds a train track and on top of that you have the snowy build. So that could easily up the amount of bricks pretty fast.

He (the builder) usually knows what he's talking about, so if he says around 1.5 mill bricks, then I believe it.

KimT wrote:The part count is an estimate by the builder himself.The whole diorama weighs about 750 kilograms - Not sure how much a regular 2x4 brick weighs, but that could be what he used to estimate the amount of bricks.

System scale LEGO (the mix you'd typically see in sets) is about 350 pieces per pound. At 750kg, that would be about 578,713, which is about 1/3 of his estimate. Plus, 2x4 bricks and such typically weigh MORE than the standard mix (there aren't as many 1x1 round plates, cheese slopes, technic pins, etc). Your standard 2x4 brick weighs about 2.32g according to BrickLink, which would translate to 323,275 bricks-- a bit more than 1/5 of his estimate.

The Hoth layout I did back in 2002 was probably in the ballpark of 30,000-40,000 pieces, and that was roughly 1/3 to 1/4 the size of his in terms of solidly built brick foundation.

Honestly, 750kg sounds way too heavy to me-- but even if it is 750kg, that's still not really enough to easily make the 1.5 million estimate. Each piece would have to weigh on *average* 0.5g, which is about the weight of a 2x2 tile. So, if you told me that it was made out of solid plates, it might be plausible.

KimT wrote:Plus do consider that this thing has a train track build in - it's not just built on a baseplate, there's a skeleton build that holds a train track and on top of that you have the snowy build. So that could easily up the amount of bricks pretty fast.

If the height of the snow field were something like 30+ bricks off the ground, that would make sense to me. But it didn't seem that tall to me. Also, if they were solidly filled with LEGO, that would make more sense, but typically you just build a skeletal structure rather than filling with 100% bricks.

Anyway, I'm mostly curious as to how he came up with the number, because it sounds like WAY more than I would've expected for a display that size. If I guessed, I would have said about 200,000 pieces or so, maybe as many as 400,000. But I didn't see it in person, and I don't know the construction technique. It's POSSIBLE, to be sure-- it just seems too big to me.

Robzula wrote:It's certainly neat, but this is no comparison to Brickplumber's model. This one has a nicer snowfield, but the inside of the hanger is bland and the use of official models rather than customs for the AT-ATs is a major detriment. Look at the way those machines tower over everything in Brickplumber's!

This was my thinking. The battlefield diorama itself might earn the description of "epic," but the Echo Base model is absolutely no comparison to Brickplumber's...imagine how awesome it would be if those two models were combined though!

I am the brain, that which keeps you saneI think your thoughts, I feel your painI am able to control both body and soulI am never asleep, and I make you whole.

Put brickplumber's hangar at the end of the other diorama and you would have the ultimate über Hoth display. The YouTube diorama is something you would find on display at TRU in Manhattan at Christmas - or something like that! It's just mesmerizing, there's so much going on, and the embedded train track is pure genius...I've never seen LEGO Train and SW melded like that. It's staggeringly cool. The use of system sets does not at all detract from the WOW factor, IMHO. BP's hangar is superior, but all the action out on the snow field makes the other dio literally come alive...I might like that better.

While I like this whole setup with the motorized speeders and the textured snowfield, the whole thing is killed once you see those sickly motorized AT-ATs attempting to lurch across the table. Seriously, what a horrendous set that is If he's going to use official sets, I would have invested in a couple 4483 AT-ATs rather than four of the atrocious motorized ones. It actually looks like a sick camel crawling at you. Other than the four legs it looks nothing like an AT-AT should. But still nice work on the diorama!

I'm forced to agree on the walking AT-ATs, as much as I'm a fan of anything Hoth, the motorized walkers never appealed to me for that reason. But that's not his fault...he's probably just holding out for the UCS walking AT-AT like me

ItsTwentyBelow wrote:While I like this whole setup with the motorized speeders and the textured snowfield, the whole thing is killed once you see those sickly motorized AT-ATs attempting to lurch across the table. Seriously, what a horrendous set that is If he's going to use official sets, I would have invested in a couple 4483 AT-ATs rather than four of the atrocious motorized ones. It actually looks like a sick camel crawling at you. Other than the four legs it looks nothing like an AT-AT should. But still nice work on the diorama!

I also never cared for the design accuracy of the motorized AT-ATs either, personally do prefer 4483 but I will say that when you zoom out and look at the larger picture of the battlefield having some moving AT-ATs (and T-47s) looks really cool, brings it to life.

My only disappointment was the motion outside doesn't match the 'deadness' of the stationary minifigs inside, but you can't move minifigs around so what are ya gonna do?

The fact that nobody has yet to mention Pepa Quin saddens me greatly. I mean, first of all, this. Take a moment and take it all in, because it is sufficiently epic. Secondly, this, which, while not stricly "Hoth," proves that this guy could/should have had a better power generator.

lowlead wrote:It's just mesmerizing, there's so much going on, and the embedded train track is pure genius...I've never seen LEGO Train and SW melded like that.

Now, in all fairness, this isn't bad, but there really isn't much here that's genuinely new or interesting. The most interesting thing here is the snow, which is admittedly quite nice, but everything else is just official LEGO models slapped on top, with very little creative thought put into it. This may be the largest Hoth display ever created, but it is certainly not the best.

The beauty of a LEGO MOC is not the elements that go into it, but the way those elements are put together.

As I look at this, I think holy cow that is a great model. I then panic as I see a wall of windows and I am wonderin how long it will take for the white bricks to all turn yellow? He needs UV filter on those windows.